Crowd shrinks by nearly half for 2nd inaugural

1/21/13 5:08 PM EST

An inaugural official told reporters that "at least" 1 million people were on the National Mall for President Obama's swearing-in ceremony.

If the figure is accurate, a crowd of around 1 million would put attendance at about 55 percent of the 2009 crowd. The city of Washington, D.C., estimated that 1.8 million people packed the Mall last time to watch Obama get sworn in for his first term.

At his second swearing-in, former President George W. Bush drew as many as 400,000 — up from the estimated 300,000 he drew in 2001. Bill Clinton attracted a crowd of 800,000 in 1993. Before Obama, the previous record was the 1.2 million people gathered to see Lyndon B. Johnson's Inauguration in 1965.